Spring rate help?

wstar

As long as this thread is wobbling all over the place off the original topic anyways ...

Here's another question for those more-knowledgeable: does balancing wheels/tires really matter on a racecar? I've googled on this a bit and seen conflicting advice. Some seem to think it matters, others take the line that it doesn't. Those that say it doesn't matter argue that (a) You'd mostly only feel the vibration coasting at a steady speed, which you almost never do anyways, and (b) aside from a potential few uncomfortable vibrations, it doesn't really damage anything or hurt performance anyways. It would save time on the (increasingly-frequent) tire re-mountings not to bother with it, and then I wouldn't have to worry about taping down wheel weights and/or worrying about them flying off or possibly getting stuck in the brake caliper somewhere, etc. That and let's face it, with all the tire worms inside the wheel and the pickups on the outside, and probably the tire slipping into a different rotational position on the rim regularly, how well is the thing really staying in balance throughout the day anyways?

So: to balance or not to balance? What do pro race teams do?

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